Thursday, February 2, 2012


Wednesday 25th October 2011 My trip to Aylesbury, and the Samurai exhibition.

I went to Aylesbury on the 25th of October 2011, we went because of the Samurai exhibition, as I thought it would be useful, as for my project, I am studying medieval Japan and Leather working, and as the Samurai incorporated both into their armour it was a win-win.
I found the Samurai exhibition very interesting, as although we could not take photographs, II drew many of the exhibits. They had a great deal of Japanese artefacts, Including full sets of Samurai armour, Katanas (swords), Kabutos (Helmets), and many more.
The displays were very well laid out, allowing almost unrestricted vision to the cases and their artefacts, and this was good as it allowed me to see all of the artefacts and exhibits.

I liked all of the exhibits, but my favourite was the Katanas, as they had quite a lot of these, and some of them were in pieces, which allowed us to see how they were made up, which I found fascinating. I also learnt a lot about leather armour, and how samurai armour was the first ever example of bullet-proof armour, as it contained a “sandwich” effect of leather-steel-leather.
I also purchased a book, which told me all about the exhibits as well as giving me lots of information on Ancient Japan. This also proved useful, as it had some good information of how the Japanese tanned their leather, as well as how they made it into armour.

2 comments:

  1. That sounds like a fascinating exhibition. I would love to go and have a look. I do not know much about Japanese history and is something I would like to learn more about.

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  2. Interesting review. It was good to know that seeing the Katana that was in pieces was actually really useful to you because you could see better how it had been made. I think we sometimes forget that not everyone wants to see just the perfect specimen - that if you are looking with a more specialist interest you have different needs as a visitor.

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